My suggestion is under the heading of Reciprocate. Thus for example, Damien Mulley links to a post of Des Walsh, who then in scanning his feed reader for what’s interesting to riff on for a post sees the heading Irish Blogs, then Damien Mulley, then this post. Aha! Hits the spot. I’ll write about that – and link of course to DM, so as well as having a timeless topic to which I can add some personal thoughts I’m able at the same time to do the right thing by DM in the recripocity department.

Virtuous circle stuff.

I find myself wondering what I can add to the blog at times because I’ve been lucky enough to meet some very good people in the past few weeks and it would feel like im only name dropping if I was to mention these sorts in the blog.

Having said that, I would love to mention some of the people I’ve met recently because as a direct result of blogging and tools like Twitter I came to meet these people and no doubt if I do get anywhere with these products it will be largely in part to these peoples advise or expertise.

The best business blogs are those that demonstrate an authority in an area, but with a distinguishable voice behind it. Like your example of Pat. He straddles a number of different styles that make his blog very entertaining, educational and newsworthy. Pat shares experiences, suggests cost-effective solutions for consumers, tracks new advances in his business sector and congratulates people in the industry (even his competitors). That’s a heady mix. But at the end of the day, its still Pat. I can almost hear his voice. That’s a strong recommendation.

For someone who doesn’t know Pat from Adam, it gives them a sense of his business style and interests. Were I in the telecoms business and looking at Pat’s business to do synergies, his blog would be a powerful magnet. To me, it brands his business, but more importantly it gives me a strong impression of the man behind the desk. If anyone wants to succeed in business blogging, I think that having a strong but honest blog voice speaks volumes. It generates business and opens a lot of doors.

Oh and even-numbered lists work too.